In its inaugural year, the Movember Dairy movement is making a splash in the dairy industry, helping to start conversations about the importance of men’s health. The conversation grew louder throughout the month as industry members joined the fight against prostate cancer through the campaign’s ‘MoTour.’

The ‘MoTour’ occurred throughout the month of November with the participation of a wide variety of industry members. Through the ‘MoTour,’ members of the Movember Dairy coalition brought the message of the movement to area businesses, along with a 6-foot mustache. The giant mustache served as a talking point for the dairy industry with the goal of encouraging dairy producers to set up appointments for annual health screenings.

"One in every six men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in his lifetime – and dairy producers are not spared from this statistic," says Ed Peck, president of Filament Marketing and member of Movember Dairy. "It has been our goal this November to encourage dairy producers to take control of their health, because, if detected early, prostate cancer has a high cure rate."

After learning of this statistic, agriculture companies across the country have helped spread the message to dairy producers through: Movember Dairy parties, with free materials for download from http://bit.ly/MovemberDairy; social media conversations and blog postings at www.facebook.com/MovemberDairy; and donating to the Movember USA campaign which funds prostate cancer research by visiting http://bit.ly/1he0nRH.

"This is an important message for members of our company and our customers, so we are very excited to be involved with Movember Dairy," says Ashley Anderson, marketing associate at ANIMART, Inc., a company that has raised awareness for prostate cancer research through a fundraising campaign, a Movember party and a mustache growing contest. "If we are able to encourage even one farmer to set up a health screening appointment with their doctor, Movember Dairy will have been a success."

Movember Dairy is an initiative within the dairy industry that began in 2013 with the goal to bring awareness to men’s health during the month of November. A subset of Movember USA, Movember Dairy was launched by a small-but-dedicated coalition within the dairy industry, focused on changing the face of men’s health – one mustache at a time.